Keshvinder Singh must do the honourable thing by vacating his seat and allow a by election to be held.

The loss of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) state power in Perak last year due to the betrayal of 3 PR ADUNS was a dark chapter of Malaysian political history.It was also a day of immense sadness, disappointment as well as anger for the Opposition supporters.The defections of the 3 ADUNs shows how some people just could not have the political stamina, commitment and integrity to adhere to the struggle for democracy, justice and reforms.June 15 was yet another day of disappointment and sadness for opposition supporters as the young DAP elected representative for Malim Nawar, Keshvinder Singh, announced his decision to quit DAP to become a pro BN independent.Political defection, whether to switch to a new party or to become a pseudo Independent is unacceptable and disgusts the people.How could Keshvinder try to add insult to injury by giving the ridiculous reasons that only the government can help the people and his defection was for the benefit of the constituents of Malim Nawar.DAP was established in 1966 and our elected representatives, be they ADUNs or Members of Parliament have been able to serve the people well without any constituency allocation.If Keshvinder truly believes in what he says, that is, his quitting is for the benefit of the people, then there is no need for him to go on leave or disappear from his constituency or residential home.He should have an immediate walk about in his constituency and see how the public response will be towards his betrayal of their trust and confidence. He will also be able to know whether those who have supported him in 2008 general election accepts his reasons for quitting, as well as his claim that he has quit on his own accord and was not pressured into making such a decision by anyone.However, I don’t think he will be bold enough to test the degree of the voters’ disgust of his betrayal of their trust.I wish to urge Keshvinder who is on holiday to search his conscience whether he has been fair to the DAP which fielded him in Malim Nawar state constituency in the 2008 general election and the Malim Nawar voters who had elected him to be their voice.In fact, Keshvinder should do what is honorable –vacate his seat and allow a by election to be held since he was elected on the DAP ticket.Without a doubt, he was elected because of DAP, not because of his own personal qualities.The right and honourable thing for him is therefore to vacate his seat.Finally, I wish to assure the Malim Nawar voters that DAP will not neglect them and will continue to speak up for their rights and interests.A house to house signature campaign need to be carried out to demand the resignation of Keshivender SinghFinally time has come to enact a law on anti hopping. This law will ensure a bye election in the event an elected rep resign from his political party.Let me assure our supporters and the people that such unethical and disgusted political resignations/ defections will not distract the DAP’s and Pakatan Rakyat’s electoral objective and preparation to recapture Perak state power in the coming general election.